ASCC Renovations on Track for Fall Semester

July 12, 2011

ASCC Renovations on Track for Fall Semester

By James Kneubuhl

With the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) summer session now in its final week on the Tafuna High School (THS) campus, renovation work on the College’s classrooms continues at a brisk pace so that the project will reach completion in time for the fall semester set to begin in mid-August. Forty classrooms and four science labs on the ASCC campus are undergoing a complete overhaul, with 20 classrooms being upgraded to “smart” classrooms which offer enhanced audio/visual and internet capabilities as learning aids.

In order to allow contractors to meet the spring 2011 deadline for completion of the renovations, ASCC re-located its summer session to THS, where regular ASCC summer and evening classes will end on July 14 while the second ASTEP summer session will continue at THS until July 29. “With the support of DOE and Tafuna High School, our overall transition was very smooth,” said ASCC Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Irene Helsham. “With Principal Matagi’s assistance and working with Tafuna High School Vice Principals, our administration and staff were able to move in less than one week and continue our summer session with minimum disruptions. I believe we accomplished this though mobilizing ourselves as a team.”

Dean Helsham anticipates that the end result of the refurbished ASCC classrooms will leave little doubt that the occasionally hectic move to THS was worth it in the end. “Each of our classrooms will have new walls, flooring, lights, ACs, white boards, and electrical outlets,” she explained, “and 20 of them will have new technology installed for internet networking, power point, and multi-media technology for faculty and students to utilize.” ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i says the renovations “are proceeding on schedule”.

Besides work on classrooms in the main “quad” area of the ASCC campus, other areas which will have a new and improved look this fall include the ROTC classrooms located in the ASCC Gym, as well as the Institute of Trades & Technology (ITT) building, the Art Building, the English Language Institute/Upward Bound building, the second building now used by the Nursing Department and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. Moefa’auo Bill Emmsley is serving as the Project Director, in collaboration with Project Designer Reuben Siatu’u, P.E., and Project Superintendent Loligi S. Seumanutafa. With the project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the College continues to work closely with John Utu, local Field Marshall for ARRA Projects.

“We feel a great deal of gratitude towards the DOE, its acting director Jacinta Galea’i, and Tafuna High School, along with its Principal Lentoy F. Matagi and her staff,” said ASCC President Dr. Galaea’i. “Thanks to them we were able to continue our summer session with only a minimum of disruption to instruction. Basically, all that changed was the location of the classes.” Dr. Galea’i thanks ASCC Vice President of Financial Affairs Mikaele Etuale initiating the move to an alternate site. ASCC advises all new and continuing students that registration dates and the start of instruction for the fall 2011 semester will be announced in the local media.

ENDS